No, not for sale, but I did get dressed mostly in last Friday’s 50 Linden offerings, with items from the Plastik, Luxuria and Maxi Gossamer. I rarely have time to actually blog anything on Fridays, but I know the item from the Plastik (items, actually, as it is part of a larger set) at least will be out at a regular price once the 50 L offer has expired.

While I did not manage to win the massive castle from the Bloodcroft Castle Gacha by Death Row Designs, I did come away with some very nice furnishings that I decided to setup in my castle from Fanatik to make a cosy, gothic scene. The fireplace, in particular, is gorgeously detailed. Then I dressed up in the Claire gown from the Muses and took my place as the lady of the manor.

The beautiful gowns from Senzafine always inspire me and the latest release, Aradia, is no different. I fell in love with the texturing of this gown as soon as I put it on and it offers some truly sumptuous colour combinations. Blue is not normally the colour I reach for first, but this version—called Moonlight—was just too lovely to pass up and I used it as the inspiration for the rest of the setting.

Astrology is a new hair brand from the creator behind Alice Project, featuring among other things a custom HUD which allows you to pick your twenty favourite colours to make your own mix pack. I decided it could be fun to show it off in a video, in which I also try out some of the other features of the HUD. If I ramble even more than usual, it might have something to do with having gotten up at 4 am to take part in a working dog trial for the first time. I did manage to retroactively sort out that the two hairs featured in the video will be available at Hairology on the 10th of May. The first style from Astrology, called Magenta, is available at Uber already.

Its time for that weekend of shopping madness again. In the last years, Black Friday has become a thing here in Sweden as well, even though its not a holiday weekend for us. I am not one to scoff at a good sale, but I have been trying to teach myself not to shop for the sake of shopping or just because something is on sale. I am not ready to move out into the woods and live an entirely self-sustaining life, but I have found that Second Life can be a good substitute for RL retain therapy. If I feel the need to shop just to perk myself up, much better if I do that in SL. Fortunately, there’s no shortage of excellent deals on virtual goods and if skins are your vice then the Skin Addiction Black Friday sale has you covered.

Whew. Finally back at my own desk. Not that I haven’t had a great time, but I did miss the conveniences of home…not the least my large screen. I have a sizeable blogging backlist, so today I dove right in to give you a look at some of Jian’s recent releases, accompanied by items from alaskametro, ieQED, Maxi Gossamer, Wasabi Pills and PXL.

I am still digging my way out of a bit of a hole, but I do have a lot of inspiring things in my inventory that wants my attention, such as this outfit by the Plastik which I’ve had on for some days but not quite found the right setting for. But then I picked up one of Trompe Loeil‘s new items for Collabor88 and it started coming together.

I tend to be the kind of person whose mind turns to endings rather than beginnings, so even though we’re at the start of a new year, I found myself drawn to using this pyre from Artisan Fantasy for my first blog of the year. Of course, for those who are more of the “glass is half full” mindset, a pyre might just call to mind the phoenix, rising reborn from the ashes.

When I reviewed Astrali for the Skin Fair (which goes on for just a few days more!), I noted that there was also an in-store release at The Plastik, featuring a massive number of tones, including a wide variety of fantasy tones. I decided to play around with one of these tones for this photo and together with the armour from Bare Rose, we ended up with a lovely desert creature seducing an unsuspecting knight. The photo also uses the Nanda hair from Mina, available at this month’s We Love Role-Play, and the Jewelled Dragon’s Egg Necklace from Maxi Gossamer.

Have I mentioned how much I like the skins from the Shops? Actually, I am pretty sure I have, but it bears repeating. Their faces (this is Pixie, which I already owned in a lighter tone but I ended up needing a somewhat darker one for some photos) really stand out from the jungle of similar-looking skins that are out there today and with the cleavage options now included with each skin the bodies have gotten even better. I absolutely adore the natural cleavage since it works so well with smaller breast sizes and in total there’s six cleavage options, counting the default that is on the skin itself.

A little less writing with this entry than usual, as my right arm is objecting a touch after doing a bit of sweeping in the yard. But I think the pictures of the elegant Morgana gown from the Plastik do a fine job of speaking for themselves.

Get ready for another round of We Love Role-Play, starting tomorrow. Among the pieces on offer for this round is this elegant mesh gown by the Library. The Asia gown really shows how you can combine mesh with clever texturing to create a style that is more complex than the base mesh. It has a vaguely Grecian or Roman feel and would suit well for roleplay in a setting with a warm climate.

With it I am wearing the newest hair from Wasabi Pills, Tanya, and a set of gorgeous bangles from Maxi Gossamer, both out for this month’s FaMESHed. The San Remo bangles utilize materials so should be seen in the latest official viewer for the best effect.

If you’d like to try something new in SL and get a bunch of cool stuff, then Global Domination by Hottie Cooterati might be for you. Its a game that involves searching for items and solving riddles. Some quite easy, some very hard. I played the game right on the launch night and persistent as I am, it kept me up to 4.30 in the morning as I insisted on trying to finish it all in one go. Of course, there was a race at the time to be among the first three to finish to get one of the grand prizes. I didn’t manage, but I was definitely not disappointed by the prizes available to everyone who completes the game. I also enjoyed the actual game play; the scripting of the HUD that you purchase to participate with is well done and the puzzles were fun and engaging.

When it came to flexi curls, Analog Dog used to be my hair crack of choice. These days, Queue Marlowe mainly produces hairs for her newer line, Point B, and I have to admit that I haven’t been as enamoured with these styles. In part, I miss the Analog Dog colours (especially the reds!), and in part it is due to mesh, which obviously doesn’t lend itself as well to flowing curls. However, I do check out every new release, and the latest one included the Five style, which became an instant favourite. I love long hairs that work both for modern looks and more fantastical looks, and this style definitely fits the bill. This is just what I want to see from mesh hair.

I am also wearing the new Adam n Eve skin once again; if you haven’t already demoed Carolyn, what are you waiting for?